Epische Oper

Epische Oper, a term introduced by B. Brecht to contrast his conception of opera with ‘dramatic opera’. The principles of ‘epic opera’ correspond to those of ‘epic theatre’ (see Episches Theater), and stress the didactic function of music in providing an independent commentary on the text, instead of supporting it as in traditional opera. He introduced the neologism ‘Misuk’ for Musik to underline his different attitude, which was, like that of his close collaborator, the composer Kurt Weill, opposed to the Gesamtkunstwerk of R. Wagner.